Beppe Gambetta & Tony McManus

BEPPE GAMBETTA

His smile is the key for reading the musical universe of Beppe Gambetta – an open and disarming smile that is also the contagious and irresistible smile of a person who invites you on a musical journey with a light heart and curiosity. The destination, as for any traveller, is not totally defined because it is beautiful, at the very least, to find ourselves where we never would have expected to be. With the horizon’s line as a challenge and attraction, Beppe is continually composing his personal mosaic of sounds and flavours. From his unique background as an Italian musician in love with American roots music and the music of his native country, Beppe has travelled the world and even crossed the Iron Curtain to dazzle and charm music enthusiasts everywhere. After eleven CDs, DVDs, teaching books and collaborations with many other top-flight musicians, Gambetta is increasingly known as one of the true innovators of the acoustic guitar.

“Few players on the planet could so successfully fuse an unwavering allegiance to tradition with impatient, wide-eyed vision, tongue-in-cheek humor with solemn devotion, and folksy song styles with progressive improvisation as Gambetta…”
– John D’Agostino, Wood & SteelTONY MCMANUS

Tony McManus was born in Paisley, Scotland and is now living in Canada. Tony has both extended and transcended the parameters of contemporary Celtic music and is ranked by peers and predecessors alike alongside the guitar world’s all-time greats. English guitarist John Renbourn described him as “the best Celtic guitarist in the world.” His fiendishly dexterous, dazzlingly original playing draws on traditions from the entire Celtic diaspora – Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Galicia, Asturias, Cape Breton, Quebec – along with still furtherranging flavours, such as jazz and east European music. Long applauded for his uncanny ability to transpose the delicate, complex ornamentation characteristic of traditional bagpipe or fiddle tunes – even the phrasing of a Gaelic song – onto his own six strings, McManus is increasingly acknowledged as a pioneering figure in bridging the realms of Celtic music and
other guitar genres.

“[Tony McManus] …the best Celtic guitarist in the world.”
– John Renbourn

On ROUND TRIP these two amazing musicians have combined to create a series of duets
that demonstrate not only their individual virtuosity, but their innate ability to blend numerous
musical traditions and styles producing stunning new music.